The Consequences of Fate
by alicemorganss
Summary: The biggest Brutus in the agency takes a stab at revenge on the power couple of the CIA. Joan/Arthur with the rest of the gang.


Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, otherwise we'd be seeing more of Arthur, which would lead to more Joan and Arthur :)

* * *

Joan opened her eyes slowly as she woke, rubbing the sleep from them as she became oriented. Noting the distinct lack of warmth from her back, she turned over, facing Arthur's side.

Feeling the sheets on his side she noted they were cold and unwrinkled. Frowning to herself she got up, throwing her robe on over her flannel pajamas, winter was just too cold in the morning for lingerie.

Heading straight for the kitchen, she brushed a hand through her hair, smoothing it over her shoulders as she walked to the coffee pot.

Automatically doing her daily routine of making the coffee she absentmindedly looked for any sounds Arthur was in the house.

Flipping the switch on for the coffee, she heard the doorbell ring. Frowning, she pulled her sash on her robe tighter and set off for the door.

As she approached she saw two men in suits through the frosted glass and iron rods in the heavy oak doors.

Pulling the door open, she leaned against it, quickly taking in the two men as they turned to her.

"Mrs. Campbell" the first man asked, taking off his sunglasses.

"Yes" Joan answered hesitantly.

"I'm Agent Stone, this is Agent Brighton, and we're from the FBI," the first man said.

"How can I help the agency today" she asked.

The two agents looked at each other before turning back to her and she steeled herself against the heavy wooden door.

"We're sorry to inform you, but your husband has been killed" Agent Brighton said.

Joan flashed a brief expression of horror, but kept her emotions in check.

"How" she got out, feeling the urge to vomit.

"We still do not know the manor, only that he was with the President, the Intelligence Director, and a few other ambassadors when he was killed" Agent Brighton told her, reading from his small notebook.

Joan nodded slowly and her knuckles turned a slight white as she gripped the door handle.

"If you'll excuse me" she told them, and they nodded understandingly.

Agent Stone handed her his card and told her to call them if she had any more information or questions, she nodded and shut the door as they walked down the porch.

She watched them as they got into their car through the frosted glass panes and as soon as she watched them turn out of the driveway she turned towards the entryway, sliding with her back against the door and hugging her knees to her chest.

She put her head in her hands and started to silently cry, her body wracking with sobs as she finally processed the information the FBI agents had given her.

As the sobs turned into tears of grief, she heard the coffee maker stop brewing and finally got the strength to stand up.

But she didn't head for the coffee maker, instead she went back to her bedroom, and curled up to his pillow, taking in the scent of him that still lingered on the pillow.

As she inhaled, more tears streamed down her face to wet the pillow, and she cried harder. She cried for the husband she lost, the friend, the partner, the boss, but mostly for the love of her life. He was gone, never to share their bed again, or boss her around, or her boss him around. It would never be the same, and for that she cried.

"Have you seen Joan" Annie asked Auggie as she walked into the tech room.

Auggie stayed silent and Annie watched as his face contorted into an emotion she had never seen before on his face, sadness.

"Obviously you didn't watch the news this morning" he asked her, typing a few things into the computer in front of him.

Annie moved around to the side next to Auggie and she stood silently at his shoulder as she read the headline in front of her.

"Is this an op," she asked.

"If it was, obviously its so classified Joan didn't have enough clearance for it" Auggie told her, motioning his head to Joan's darkened office.

"Oh my god" Annie said, feeling mixed emotions about what the news reported.

"That's what I said," Auggie said sadly.

Annie rubbed his shoulders in show of support and silently prayed this was all a huge mistake.

The doorbell rang, but Joan refused to get up and get it. She figured they would go away after a few minutes so she hugged the pillow tighter to her upper body, closing her eyes to prevent the tears from falling again.

She heard footsteps coming closer and didn't bother opening her eyes and reaching for the guns hidden on either side of the mattress, her bedroom door was shut and she didn't really care about anything right now.

There was a timid knock at the door.

"Go away" she croaked.

"You know I can't do that," the voice said from behind the door.

"I don't really feel like talking to anyone right now" she told them, hugging the pillow close again.

"I made a promise, and I need to keep it" the voice said, and she heard the door handle jiggle and the door crack open.

She saw a light hit her from her slightly cracked eyelids. She saw the blinding green flash again and she sighed, rolling over and ignoring him.

"You know that's not any way to treat a guest," he said as he felt along the edge of the bed, sitting on the corner of it.

She said nothing and he sighed inwardly, it was going to be a long day.

He moved his hand along the sheets, feeling for the woman that lay broken in the bed.

"I'm so sorry" he told her, grasping her shoulder and squeezing it as he heard muffled sobs.

Annie stood in the doorway, unseen by the two occupants, and she watched as her boss broke down.

She was going to look into this, one way or another she was going to find out if this was an op or just a bizarre twist of fate.

The doorbell rang hours later and Annie silenced the guest as she opened the door.

"Here's the information you wanted," he said, passing a folder to her as he slipped in the door, heading straight for the kitchen.

"This description look familiar" she asked as she thumbed through the file, following him through the house.

"That's what I thought too" he said, "But it isn't going to do us much good if we tell her and it's not him."

"We'll just have to see if we can get in" Annie said, shutting the folder as she saw a flash of green light enter the kitchen.

"How is she" Annie asked.

"Asleep, I guess" Auggie shrugged, putting his hands on the granite island they stood around.

"We did some digging, and there is a familiar description at the CIA hospital" Annie said, breaking the silence. "But we need to know its him before we tell her anything."

"We need you to hack into the mainframe and get the video feed from each of the rooms."

"And then what" Auggie asked.

"And then we tell her if its him" Annie said.

"Fine, take me to their office" Auggie said, holding out a hand.

Annie took it and looked back at Jai in the kitchen, he nodded and looked slightly relieved.

Annie stood over Auggie's shoulder as she read him what was on the computer.

"Can you get to the last video feed," she asked, watching as his fingers typed faster.

"I'm trying" he said, entering codes into the terminal.

"Its not working" he said a few minutes later.

"That's the only room we cant see into" Annie said.

"We have to get in there," Jai said from the doorway, both Annie and Auggie looking up in surprise.

"How" Annie asked.

"This" Jai said, holding up Joan's access badge.

"Joan's badge" Annie said, both for Auggie's sake and her surprise.

"Only directors have access to the CIA hospital" Auggie said, "It might just work."

Annie read off the numbers to Auggie as he typed the key into the computer and smiled successfully as the video link came through the screen.

"Its him" she gasped as she looked at the computer monitor.

"I can see why they said he was dead," Jai said, looking over Annie's shoulder at the vitals stats running across the top of the screen.

"Two gunshot wounds with massive hemorrhaging" he read off the file that he had given Annie.

"She should at least be given the chance to say goodbye," Annie said quietly.

"I'll go" Auggie said, getting up from the chair and moving out the door.

Annie sighed and took the chair Auggie had just vacated, Jai watched sadly as she stared at the computer monitor in front of her.

Auggie made his way to the bed once again, feeling around the side and stepping in front of Joan.

"Joan" he said softly.

She cracked her eyes open and reached for his hand, silently telling him she was awake.

"We think we may have found something" he told her, squeezing her hand.

"What" she croaked out, her voice harsh from all the crying she had done.

"We may have found Arthur," he told her, cutting straight to the chase.

"Where" she asked hesitantly.

"Where would be the last place you would look," he asked.

She removed her hand from his grip and moved out of bed, making a beeline for her closet.

Auggie head her door close and sat down on the bed to wait.

She dressed quickly, throwing on her dress from yesterday and getting the rest of herself looking slightly presentable as she threw her hair back into a bun.

Opening the door and slipping into her heels she took Auggie by the elbow, moving them both outside the bedroom, and to the office.

"You two coming" she asked as she passed by, grabbing her keys that were on the entryway table.

Jai grabbed Joan's badge, Annie grabbed her bag and they both shot out after Auggie and Joan, sliding into the back seat as Joan started her car.

"Hold on" Jai whispered as Joan buckled her seatbelt and shifted the car from park to drive.

Annie looked at him blankly and then knew why he said that as Joan hit the gas pedal, moving out of the driveway to the streets towards Langley.

Moving at speeds faster than Annie had known you could take on your way from McLean to Langley, she watched as the scenery pass by and noticed that it looked like it was about to snow.

Annie felt the car slow down and she looked tinted windows of the car, she noticed they were already at the security checkpoints.

She heard Joan go through the motions of showing her badge to the guard and moved forward as the steel barrier moved back into the ground.

Joan whipped the BMW into Arthur's parking spot and got out of the car.

She leaned back into the car, hanging against the door.

"Please, do not tell anyone anything" she asked, they all nodded and Jai handed her the access badge he had in his hand.

"Good luck" he told her, and she nodded once before she moved quickly to the side entrance of headquarters, entering a pass code into the keypad and entering quickly as the door opened.

_Here goes nothing_, Joan thought as her heels clicked down the deserted hallway.

She looked side to side as she moved deeper into the CIA headquarters.

As she reached the end of the hallway she stopped at the last checkpoint.

Entering her security code into the padlock she frowned as the light refused to change from red to green.

She looked at the camera that was behind her and moved her body so it was positioned directly in front of the panel.

Entering the other numbers she knows by heart, she held her breath as she watched the light.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the granted access, she quickly entered the doorway. Thanking Arthur for being thorough and making her memorize his access codes as well as hers.

She quickly shut the door behind her, taking note of the white, sterilized hallway with multiple doors in front of her.

Noting the coast was clear she moved quickly along the hallway, looking for room 13.

She paused in front of the door, steeling herself for what she was about to confront.

Holding her breath as she entered his password to the door's padlock, she felt the door unlock and she pushed it open.

"She's in," Jai said, hanging up the phone.

"How do you know," Annie asked.

"Watch" Auggie said, hearing what was coming long before his other companions.

All of a sudden the parking lot was filled with officers armed with guns and heavy armor.

Annie watched in shock as the men made a single file formation and entered the building with a swipe of the card from Bill, the head of some division within the CIA.

"Someone has to warn Joan" she said, reaching for her phone.

"Don't bother" Auggie told her, looking at her, "Joan most likely knows who's coming."

Annie sat dejectedly, staring at her phone.

"We'll just have to wait it out," Jai said to her, patting the back of her hand, watching the building in anticipation.

"Arthur" Joan called out, moving towards the bed.

He wasn't responsive, his eyes closed and she noted all the machines he was hooked too.

Being careful of the wires and tubes Joan sat carefully on the bed next to his side, brushing a lock of hair back into place as she moved to kiss his forehead.

She moved the hospital gown aside and looked at the gauze that covered the left side of his chest and lower abdomen.

Feeling the warmth of his skin brought a slight reassurance to her and she shed a tear of relief that her husband was still alive.

A few minutes later, as she was retying her husband's hospital gown, she heard lightly muffled footsteps make their way down the hallway.

Looking around the room she noticed there was nothing she could do. There were no windows in the underground, nonexistent hospital. She would have to face this head to head.

She heard the footsteps stop and steeled herself for what was next.

The hospital room door opened and she came face to face with someone she knew quite well.

"Joan" the man said.

"Bill" Joan said, moving away from Arthur's side.

"How'd you find him," Bill asked, closing the door behind him.

"I have my ways Bill" Joan told him matter of factly. "Why do you want him dead, or lets start with the me thinking he is dead," she asked.

"We were all in the running for the DCS Joan" Bill began, "But then Arthur was chosen, and each time he had an op, he always chose you over us."

"What does that have to do with wanting him dead" Joan asked, watching as Bill came closer to her.

"We had a pact, but I guess he forgot about it when he was made our boss and, when he married you" Bill said snidely. "Henry wouldn't have put up with the two of you pulling these shenanigans, why should Ken, David, and I."

"So you try to kill him because he chose me over you" she asked disbelieving.

"Yes, Joan" Bill said, stepping directly in front of her. "With Arthur out of the way and you grieving for his loss, we could have the agency back up and running properly, just like it was when Henry was DCS."

"Henry ran more dark ops then this agency had ever seen, did you really think the CIA could survive that again," Joan asked, refusing to move and let Bill get the upper hand.

"And you think Arthur has done a good job" Bill asked.

"Yes, I do" Joan told him.

Bill laughed and looked over at Arthur's still form.

"Like I didn't know your answer before hand" Bill smiled, "You guys are like two peas in a pod, it makes the rest of us sick."

Joan shook her head and noticed Arthur twitch his fingers slightly, hoping Bill didn't notice.

As she looked at Bill she internally gave a sigh of relief, he had not seen the movement.

Joan saw a flash of silver in the corner of her eyes and held her breath as Bill pulled a scalpel from his side.

"Do you really think you can get away with it Bill" Joan said, trying to talk him down.

"I did successfully get you to believe Arthur was dead, if only for a little while," Bill said, watching her carefully.

"Why" Joan asked.

"Because Joan" Bill began, "we're all Brutus' every single one of us. We're just trying to get to the top. And with you and Arthur paired off, you know that Arthur would choose you for his successor, as would the Director of Intelligence."

"You don't know that" Joan tried.

"Oh but we do" Bill said, turning the scalpel in his hands, wary of her position.

"You have the best record, for clean getaways, successful ops, and minus the little indiscretions that your career had before you had Arthur, you're the best candidate."

As Joan thought about what Bill said she let her watchful guard down and Bill took the final step and reached out with the scalpel, nicking her neck ever so slightly.

Her hand flew to her neck and she noticed the faint smell of iron and copper, and the wet sensation against her fingers.

She ignored her injury and charged at Bill, he dropped the scalpel as she pushed him into the wall and lifted her knee, watching him double over in pain.

"You forget Bill" Joan said, watching as he tried to scoot away from her towards the scalpel, "I am much, much better at this then you."

She crushed her heel into his hands and felt the bones crack.

As he screamed in agony, the door way busted open and Joan watched as an ops team moved into the room, taking in their surroundings.

"Ma'am" one of the ops specialist said, broke formation and rushing over to her, taking in the blood trailing down the side of her neck.

"I'm okay" Joan waved him off, taking a washcloth from the stack of towels behind her, "just get him into custody please," she motioned towards Bill, still withering on the ground, clutching his broken hand.

She looked towards the bed and saw Arthur, his eyes open, yet unfocused, trying to take in the scene.

"Arthur" she said, moving from the foot of the bed to the head of it, ignoring the going arounds behind her as Bill was moved out of the room.

He turned his head towards her voice and focused his eyes on her.

"Joan" he croaked out.

She smiled through her tears as she saw that he was awake and alive.

"What happened," he asked, taking a look at her for the first time.

"I'll tell you later" she silenced him, clutching his hand with her free one as she sat down on the bed.

Arthur nodded, still slightly confused and she leaned down, kissing his dry lips.

"I love you" Joan whispered.

"Love you" Arthur said, closing his eyes and clutching her hand in his as he closed his eyes.

She smiled and squeezed his hand back.

"Ma'am we are going to have to stitch that up" one of the ops team members said as he watched the scene play out in front of him.

Joan nodded and slipped her hand out of Arthur's, moving her hand to his forehead to brush his messy hair back from his forehead as she kissed him again.

"I'll be back," she whispered to his sleeping form.

Slipping out of the door with help from the ops team member, she sighed as she rehashed the day.

Her worst nightmare had come true, only to be more than relieved when the nightmare was just a horrible case of attempted revenge.

She just thanked god that everything would be okay, and it would be okay once she was back at her husband's side, willing him to get better as soon as possible.

fin.


End file.
